Let it Rain
by xxCelestialStarxx
Summary: Ed's back in Risembool for automail repairs and finds Winry sitting alone out in the rain. Can either find the courage to tell the other how they feel? edxwin


Hi there! Looks like I finally stopped being lazy and came up with a story! Since I'm Fullmetal-obsessed right now, this is an FMA fic. My first one ever! It revolves around my fav couple, Ed and Winry. I was a bit nervous to post this, but I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or any of its characters. I wish I did, but I don't.

Let it Rain

"Hurry up, Al!"

"Brother, wait for me!"

16-year-old Edward Elric, also known as the Fullmetal Alchemist ran towards the Rockbell home, braid flying behind him in the wind, and his younger brother Alphonse right behind him.

They had traveled back to their hometown of Risembool because of course, once again, Ed had busted his automail, his right arm to be exact.

The sky was beginning to cloud over, turning a sinister dark grey and the brothers made it to the front door of the house just as the first few raindrops started to fall.

Ed hammered on the door with his good arm. A dog could be heard barking and it was Pinako who answered a few seconds later.

"Well well, if it isn't the little pipsqueak, I see you haven't gotten any taller."

The response was predictable: "WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE CAN'T SEE OVER AN ANT'S HEAD?!"

"Ed…" Al groaned, holding his brother back. Sometimes he felt like the older sibling. Pinako just stared up at them both, a small smile playing on her lips.

--x—

Stepping into the house, Ed noticed it was pretty dark and quiet: no footsteps, the sound of tools, nothing; only the hammering of rain on the roof.

"Where's Winry?" he asked, placing his red overcoat on the living room couch.

"Oh, I don't know, probably out for a walk," Pinako replied calmly, blowing a puff of smoke from her pipe.

"In the _rain_?" Ed said incredulously. "Why would she do that? I'll go look for her," he quickly volunteered.

Alphonse looked up from the floor, where he sat petting Den. "Good idea, Brother, I'll go with you!"

"Don't be stupid, Al. We both know that if you go out in the pouring rain, you'll start to rust, or even worse, your blood seal might come off," Ed added, not wanting to risk that happening.

"But-"

"I'm going now!" Ed shouted over his shoulder to Al and Pinako, already halfway out the door, pulling on his coat in the process.

Pinako stared at Ed's disappearing back with a knowing look on her face. If Al wasn't in a suit of armour, he knew he'd have a similar look on his face as well.

--x--

"Argh, I should have at least brought an umbrella," Ed muttered to himself a few minutes later. In his haste to leave, he'd forgotten.

The rain was showing no signs of letting up and his hair and clothes were already soaked.

Taking a guess as to where Winry was, he trekked over a small hill and that's when he spotted her, sitting by the river with her knees tucked into her chest, her back to him.

He smiled in spite of himself, thinking of how Al would go to the same place when he and Ed would have a fight as kids. He walked towards his best friend, his stomach doing a flip flop, but he didn't know why.

As Edward made his way over, Winry heard the small splashes his footsteps made in the grass and turned.

Squinting through the sheets of rain, she recognized who the unknown figure was right away, hardly daring to believe it.

"Ed?" she managed to say in a small voice when he got to where she was sitting. "Is it.. is it really you?"

"The one and only," he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Before Ed knew what was happening, Winry had stood up very fast and thrown her arms around his neck in a tight hug, burying her face in his chest. Ed's face turned pink from embarrassment, but he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, surprisingly glad to be holding her so close.

Pulling back to look at him, Winry exclaimed, "You finally came for a visit!"

"Heh heh… um, well…"

"Edward…" Winry's voiced had dropped dangerously low as they let go of each other. "Let me see your arm…"

Seeing as he probably couldn't hide it forever, Ed pulled his right arm from under his coat. He'd been trying to conceal it.

"It's not completely broken," Ed reasoned, as Winry took it in her hands, turning it this way and that, inspecting every part. "It's still a bit movable and everything."

It was then that Ed felt pain explode into the top of his head before he could even react.

"That damn wrench…"

--x--

Opening his eyes and sitting up, Ed saw that he was by the river's edge, Winry sitting by his side, rain continuing to sweep through Risembool.

"Oh good, I was afraid I'd knocked you out for good that time," Winry said upon seeing he was awake.

Ed groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "I swear, Al and I have been on some crazy missions, but it's that wrench that'll kill me one day."

Though Winry was annoyed, she let out a small smile. "Well it serves you right, I work for nights straight on your automail and you probably break it 10 seconds after arriving in Central!" She crossed her arms over her chest.

Ed just stared at her. "…Sorry," he said quietly. Honestly, he knew full well how much he and Al made her worry, but he intended to stick by the promise he made to his younger brother and not rest until Al's body was returned to normal.

Winry, slightly taken aback that Ed had actually apologized, said no more and turned back towards the river.

Ed broke the silence. "Here take this." Shrugging off his long red coat, he placed it around Winry's shoulders. "You must be freezing." She was only wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals for crying out loud! She was just as wet as he was.

Winry smiled at the gesture. "Thank you, Ed," she said gratefully, pulling the coat around her even more. "That's very sweet of you."

"Yeah… sure," was Ed's nervous reply. After a moment, he added, "And why, may I ask, are you out here in the pouring rain anyway, Winry?"

She turned back in his direction. "I don't know; I just like the rain, the feel of it." It felt like all her fears, worries, and pain could simply be washed away, forgotten until the shower was over. Ed nodded, understanding. "But you're out here too, aren't you? What's a shrimp like you doing out in the rain?" she asked, shooting him a playful smile.

Ed clenched his fists. "Don't call me small! I'm as tall as you now!" However he used the short joke to avoid the question, not wanting to admit he was worried about her, out here all alone.

"Wait a minute, I seem to remember a certain someone being afraid of thunderstorms," Ed said with a sideways glance at Winry, remembering years ago when he and Al would spend the night at the Rockbells' during each terrible storm they had. They were able to comfort their friend and it made her feel safe.

At the moment, thunder and lightning looked like it could dance across the sky at any time.

"Shut up, I got over that," Winry exclaimed, whacking him lightly on the shoulder and Ed chuckled. She sighed, looking out at the river's waters. "Hey, remember the time when you, me, and Al played tag here as kids once?"

"Oh yeah!" Ed let out another laugh. "Al accidentally fell in the river, and he was splashing around, screaming for someone to help him-"

"Not realizing the water was only a few feet deep," Winry finished for him. "He could've stood up, no problem." She joined in the laughter.

"And then I jumped in and got him out, pretending that I had bravely rescued him," Ed added, remembering the look on Al, and even Winry's face.

"My hero," Winry smiled sarcastically.

"Things sure have changed," Ed said.

"No kidding," Winry replied. Never had she dreamed that Ed would one day lose his limbs and Al his body, all in one night, trying to bring their mom back. It was amazing how fast things could change.

Winry couldn't also help but notice that Ed himself was growing up. His hair was a bit longer, but still braided, and though Winry would never admit it to him, he was getting taller. Through his clothing she could tell he was in good shape too. She felt her cheeks turn slightly pink as she realized she thought Ed was handsome.

--x--

"So when are you guys leaving again?"

Ed looked to the ground, his long bangs covering his face. "The day after tomorrow. We just got a new lead; we're heading back to Central to do some research."

"Oh.." At the sound of how choked Winry's voice sounded, Ed looked up, startled. Even through the many drops of rain on her face Ed could see tears threatening to fall over in her eyes.

"There's something I have to do, I promised Al," Ed whispered. "Until this whole thing is over, you and Granny shouldn't have to settle for half of me."

"I wouldn't mind," Winry replied, barely audible over the continuous pounding of rain. But of course, she didn't exactly mean that, she wanted them back to normal too, but the thought of Ed or Al getting killed was the scariest thing in the world. Ed caught what she said.

He hated doing this to her, he hated seeing her cry, and unfortunately, he was the one who usually caused it. "What's wrong?" It hurt him to see her in such distress.

However, Winry quickly wiped away the tears, somewhat angrily. "It's nothing, I'm fine." Sometimes she hated being the crybaby.

On the other hand, little did she know, Ed admired how strong she was. Winry was the strongest girl he knew. The fact that she worked tirelessly to make automail just for him meant more than he could ever say.

Many people were afraid when they saw his artificial limbs; that's why you'd rarely see him without his white gloves or in a t-shirt or shorts. But his childhood friend loved them, thinking no less of him at all, even after the mistake he and his brother made. She saw all the good qualities easily, automail truly was her passion.

Ed hadn't really noticed before, but Winry was as much of a prodigy as he was, the way she was able to design and create automail. How had he not noticed before? Probably because he was always preoccupied with the Philosopher's Stone and getting Al back to normal.

Actually, he hadn't noticed a lot of things. Like how his best friend had grown into a beautiful young woman with her long blonde hair and sparkling sapphire eyes. He blushed just thinking about it. _When did I start looking at her differently?_

Breaking the silence that had passed while Ed was thinking of all this, Winry finally spoke.

"It just worries me, seeing you coming back all the time looking like you've been in a war!"

"Winry…"

But she didn't stop; she had to let all this out. "I care about you too much, I hate seeing you all beat up, I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt, I love you!"

She hadn't meant to say that last part. It took a moment for Winry to realize what she had so bluntly blurted out. She lifted a hand, covering her mouth in shock. Ed's eyes were wide in surprise, hardly daring to believe it.

_Great, I just ruined our friendship, he's going to hate me, he'll never want to see or talk to me again; I'm such an idiot!_

She quickly got up, intending to make a run for it, but Ed's reflexes were quicker. Grabbing her wrist, he forced Winry back down on the wet grass, so that she was kneeling in front of him.

For a while, no one spoke. They just let the drops of rain wash over them, listening to it hit the ground, Ed's hand still around Winry's wrist. Lightning finally shot across the heavens, thunder in its wake.

Finding she could not look at him, Winry simply closed her eyes.

A few seconds later, she suddenly sensed movement and heard the shifting of grass in front of her. Slowly opening her eyes, she was shocked to see two golden eyes boring into hers, inches away; their noses were practically touching. She felt her face heat up instantly.

Feeling his breath on her face, Winry parted her lips slightly to say something, but at that moment, Ed cupped her chin into his flesh hand.

Moving in even closer, he whispered, "I love you too, Win. Always have," he brought his lips to hers in a soft, gentle kiss, "and always will." He pulled away slighty.

Winry couldn't believe it, all this time he'd…

She couldn't help it. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him again, more passionately this time, feeling overwhelmed with happiness; a kiss which Ed gladly returned.

Ed himself felt the same. Who knew he'd ever be kissing Winry Rockbell? But he realized he'd been wanting to for quite some time. He forgot that they were out in the rain, didn't care that his hair was soaked and plastered to his face; Winry's was too and he found himself lost in her, saw only her.

--x—

Neither knew how much time had passed, but as the rain finally began to stop, and light began to peak through the clouds, Ed and Winry could be found still sitting by the river, Winry leaning on Ed's shoulder with his head resting on hers.

"Think we should head back now? Granny's probably worried," Ed said softly.

"Yeah, you're right," Winry replied. "Besides, I still have to fix your automail."

Ed chuckled and pushed himself to his feet. Holding a hand out to her, he pulled Winry up off the grass. Both did not seem to care that they were drenched with water; their skin slightly covered in mud. They slowly walked, hand in hand, back to the Rockbell house.

Now Ed knew for sure this was home, and he'd work even harder to reach his goal. Because reaching it meant not only happiness for Al, but Winry as well; and she would be confidently waiting for him.

As they reached the house, Ed could hardly wait to tell Al that it looked like he would be the one to marry Winry one day after all.

THE END

--x--

So what'd you think? Please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially since this is my first story. Thanks in advance!


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